Landlord calls in unannounced-acceptable??

sudzs

Our landlord calls to the house unannounced, about every 4 weeks. We are a mature couple (but not too mature!), what you would call "good tennants" with a standing order for the rent, clean and tidy (!) we look after the garden, little jobs around the place like draft-proofing nearly all the bloody windows! :rolleyes:

But these visits are beginning to grate on my nerves. And his parting words last week were "see you before christmas..." JESUS!!!!

So what is acceptable here? I'm getting to the point of saying "why do you keep calling... can't you see you're house is in great shape, there's no problems, so why keep decending on us whenever you feel like??"

Do we have to put up with it?? What to do????!

kleefarr

Rights as a tenant in private rented accommodation
You are entitled to quiet and exclusive enjoyment of your home.
You are entitled to certain minimum standards of accommodation.
You are entitled to a rent book.
You have the right to contact the landlord or their agent at any reasonable times. You are also entitled to the appropriate contact information you need to do so (telephone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, etc.).
Your landlord is only allowed to enter your home with your permission. If the landlord needs to carry out repairs or inspect the premises, it should be by prior arrangement, except in an emergency.
You are entitled to reimbursement for any repairs that you carry out that are the landlords’ responsibility.
You are entitled to have friends to stay overnight or for short periods, unless specifically forbidden in your tenancy agreement. You must tell your landlord about an extra person moving in.
You are entitled to a certain amount of notice of the termination of your tenancy.
You are entitled to refer any disputes to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) without being penalised for doing so
You have the right to a copy of any register entry held by the PRTB dealing with your tenancy


MORE HERE ... http://www.oasis.gov.ie/housing/renting_a_flat_or_house/tenants_rights_and_obligations.html#id3154084

sudzs

Thanks!

I kinda know all that.. and that the landlord cannot enter the property without my permission or invitation but our problem is that he arrives any time and knocks at the door. Being a well brought up polite type, I of course invite him in.

And I didn't even mind too much in the first month or 2 as you can understand a landlord being curious as to whether the new tennants are o.k...

So should I just be a bit rude and not invite him in next time???

Gurgle

sudzs wrote:

So should I just be a bit rude and not invite him in next time???

Gentle hint at the door - 'sorry mate, just getting ready to go out. Everything all right?'

Back when we had landlords, they were never invited in. Rent handed over at the door.

kleefarr

Well I would politely remind him of YOUR rights and HIS obligations.

Once you have reminded him, tell him that you do not expect to see him unless either you call him or he calls you and you agree on a time and place to meet at the property.

It's either that or carry on the way things have been going. Your call.

subway

yep,
it can be hard when you get on with them.

at the door just tell them your "in the middle of something, ask them to ring you the next day and arrange a time"
whenever they call over unnannouced repeat that.

if the get uppity then give them the tenants rights spiel.
no point getting all indignant when they might just be unaware of what theyre doing is wrong.

hmmm

Unacceptable. You're renting a service from him and he needs to start acting like a professional. I'd point out to him that he is your landlord and not your friend, and that in future you would appreciate if he would contact you in advance to agree a time when he can visit the premises (and make sure you agree a time that suits you and not him). These visits must not interfere with your peaceful enjoyment of the premises, so to me a once a month visit is the absolute maximum.

subway

hmmm wrote:

I'd point out to him that he is your landlord and not your friend.

again, id advise against the confrontational approach straight away,
youve been accomdating to him so theres no need to destroy a good working relationship straight off.

the_syco

sudzs wrote:

Being a well brought up polite type, I of course invite him in.

You invite him in, so I dunno how he'd get the message that you don't like him coming in. If you don't want him to come in, say you're in the middle of something, and would he mind calling back at X time (have a time planned).

professore

A mate of mine had that problem .... it stopped when the landlady came in one Sunday morning (she even let herself in !!!!) and he was *ahem* in full flight with his girlfriend ....

hmmm

subway wrote:

again, id advise against the confrontational approach straight away,
youve been accomdating to him so theres no need to destroy a good working relationship straight off.

That's fair enough, but you need to be professional with a landlord from day 1. A lot of these amateur landlords don't realise that when they rent property it now becomes someone else's home and you're not just some lodger in their house. He cannot arrive unannounced on a regular basis and expect to inspect your home. You're buying a service and you need to be clear with the landlord that you will keep up your side of the contract and you expect him to also. Saying "oh I'm just heading out come some other time" is not dealing with the real issue, you're still letting him think he can arrive unannounced and disrupt your life.

I'd write him a short polite letter and tell him that you have no issue with him inspecting his property, but you expect that in future all visits to your home will be pre-arranged with you in advance, and shall not be on a overly frequent basis. And wish him a happy christmas.

Calina

hmmm wrote:

....A lot of these amateur landlords don't realise that when they rent property it now becomes someone else's home and you're not just some lodger in their house. ...

this is one of the problems with "keeping the first house" when trading up. Too much emotional investment in the property to be able to recognise that it's not their home anymore, it's someone else's.

Ran into this problem with someone - was fortunate enough [!] for financial reality to come biting and for her to need to sell it. Sure it wasn't much cop to have to flathunt after three months but God not having to go through the stress of "you're not entitled to tell me how to arrange the furniture, and you're not entitled to come and go as you wish - I pay you 1200E for the service of living here, not for the privilege of having you tell me how to arrange my books on the bookshelf".

Victor

hmmm wrote:

Saying "oh I'm just heading out come some other time" is not dealing with the real issue, you're still letting him think he can arrive unannounced and disrupt your life.

Its better to say "Oh I'm just heading out come, phone ahead next time and we'll arrange something"

antoinolachtnai

I mean, remember, your landlord is a human being too. He may well just fancy a chat. It used to be that being a landlord was a great way to get talking to people. There were always things breaking, there were shared areas in bedsit houses, the rent had to be collected every week, and tenancy was less stable, so the landlord just had to be around.

Being a landlord is just much easier now. There is a lot less hassle with tenants who are working hard all day, and modern stuff in a single-family house just lasts longer.

I can see how some people would just fancy a cup of tea with their tenants.

It's a generational thing too. Ten or fifteen years ago, it was much more normal to drop in on people when you were passing by, pretty much unannounced. The advent of the mobile phone is what has changed all that, people always call in advance.

He may be interested in how your living, and how you are using his house, but he may not. Certainly, you should definitely try one of the gentle persuasion methods to lessen his visits, but unless they really bother you, I wouldn't try to knock them out altogether.

Avns1s

OP I'd just be grateful that you seem to have such a pleasant relationship with your landlord. I know he might be a bit overbearing calling once a month but I do feel that your welcoming nature makes him feel that he should call.

I certainly would tread lightly.... better to have this type of relationship than anything where he is calling to scrutenise the property and making an arrangement to call once a month, as would be his right even if a bit much.

On another note, I have a property rented and my tenants call to my house once a month to pay the rent together with a few of the kids. TBH I look forward to it. They're good company and we have a chat and a few beers. Maybe you have the same situation in reverse.

Better to be neighbourly than in live in isolation. Remember the last generation did have this habit of "visiting" which goes back to the time of no television etc. Some people just like contact.

sudzs

Thanks everyone for all the input and opinions!

Actually will say something about it to him as I do feel it is an invasion of our privacy, albeit slight. But really, what if I was having people over for lunch or whatever and then have to have yer man arriving at the door...

And it's quite obvioust by now that we are good tennants who look after the place well.. if inspections are necessary then a pre-arranged time is what would be best.

I think the honeymoon period is definately over! Just how exactly to word it to someone who ultimately can give me just 4 weeks notice to vacate my home is next!

Lex Luthor

maybe he fancies you....:p

take hmmm's advice

antoinolachtnai

If you wait until the 5th month, he won't be able to just give you four weeks notice.

Be gentle if you can. The next time he calls, why not just say to him Hi xxx, good to see you! Listen, I am very busy inside with a work thing at the moment, maybe we can arrange another time? How about the week after next ... sure ... well, give me a call closer to the date to confirm ...

This guy may have a genuine interest in your welfare, so try not to brush him off completely.